Police Selection and Training

Written Application

Many states have a uniform form that all applicants must complete. If hired that form will be sent to that state's police officer standards and training (POST). The application not only includes education and work information but also requests the individual's criminal, drug, driving, and financial history. It is very important that the applicant be completely truthful on the application because his or her answers will be cross-validated with a number of different means, including the polygraph exam. For example, most departments will accept an individual who truthfully states that he or she had tried marijuana a few times in the past, but once they find that the individual has lied, they cannot accept him or her as an applicant. Integrity is the most important characteristic a police officer can have.

Written Examinations

Many departments will use a general cognitive test that measures verbal and mathematics aptitude, reasoning, and related perceptual abilities. Particular importance is paid by the departments to the applicant's ability to write a well-organized paper with complete, grammatically correct sentences.

Physical Agility Test

A large number of departments use a series of strength and agility exercises to test the applicants' pretraining abilities. Recruits will need to pass job-related physical training in a relatively short period of time at the academy; therefore, they must have a certain level of fitness when hired. This physical training is often modeled on [Page 1185]three basic physical functions that officers must perform: (1) getting to the problem (running, jumping, vaulting, pushing), (2) resolving the problem (possibly wrestling or fighting), and (3) removing the problem (pulling heavy people or objects, or restraining).

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